Official Report: search what was said in Parliament
The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
The Official Report search offers lots of different ways to find the information you’re looking for. The search is used as a professional tool by researchers and third-party organisations. It is also used by members of the public who may have less parliamentary awareness. This means it needs to provide the ability to run complex searches, and the ability to browse reports or perform a simple keyword search.
Searching by different views
The web version of the Official Report has three different views:
- Report: this is the whole Official Report for a particular meeting of a committee or Parliament
- Item of business: this is each individual agenda item in an Official Report. For example, Portfolio Questions would be the item of business in a Meeting of the Parliament report
- Contribution: this is each time someone has made a spoken contribution to a meeting.
Depending on the kind of search you want to do, one of these views will be the best option. The default view is to show the report for each meeting of Parliament or a committee. For a simple keyword search, the results will be shown by item of business.
Search by MSP
When you choose to search by a particular MSP, the results returned will show each spoken contribution in Parliament or a committee, ordered by date with the most recent contributions first. This will usually return a lot of results, but you can refine your search by keyword, date and/or by meeting (committee or Chamber business).
We’ve chosen to display the entirety of each MSP’s contribution in the search results. This is intended to reduce the number of times that users need to click into an actual report to get the information that they’re looking for, but in some cases it can lead to very short contributions (“Yes.”) or very long ones (Ministerial statements, for example.) We’ll keep this under review and get feedback from users on whether this approach best meets their needs.
Searching by keyword
There are two types of keyword search:
- A keyword search without quotation marks will look for every instance of each word used and rank the results by frequency and proximity. It will also include variants of the keywords using “porter stemming”. This is when the search looks for the “stem” of a word regardless of its ending. So, for example, a search for [salmon farm] will return each instance of “salmon” and each instance of “farm” as well as potentially including results for “farms”, “farmed” and “farming”.
- A keyword search with quotation marks will only return instances of that exact phrase used. So, for example, a search for “salmon farm” in quotation marks will only return instances of that exact phrase.
Combining search filters
If you select an MSP’s name from the dropdown menu, and add a phrase in quotation marks to the keyword field, then the search will return only examples of when the MSP said those exact words. You can further refine this search by adding a date range or selecting a particular committee or Meeting of the Parliament.
More complex keyword searches
It’s also possible to run basic Boolean searches. For example:
- a search for “salmon farm” AND “Loch Lomond” will return only results which include both exact phrases
- a search for “salmon farm” NOT “Loch Lomond” will return results for “salmon farm” but exclude results which also include “Loch Lomond”
- a search for “salmon farm” OR “Loch Lomond” will return all results for “salmon farm” and all results for “Loch Lomond” regardless of whether they appear together
Searching by date
There are two ways of searching by date.
You can either use the Start date and End date options to run a search across a particular date range. For example, you may know that a particular subject was discussed at some point in the last few weeks and choose a date range to reflect that.
Alternatively, you can use one of the pre-defined date ranges under “Select a time period”. These are:
- Current session (all Official Reports since the current sessions started)
- Last 6 months
- Last 12 months
- each of the previous sessions of Parliament. (Selecting the information icon above the “Select a time period” menu will give you the exact dates for each session.)
- All sessions
- You can also choose to select a custom date range, although adding a Start or End date will mean the search automatically defaults to this option.
If you search by an individual session, the list of MSPs and committees will automatically update to show only the MSPs and committees which were current during that session. For example, if you select Session 1 you will be show a list of MSPs and committees from Session 1.
If you add a custom date range which crosses more than one session of Parliament, the lists of MSPs and committees will update to show the information that was current at that time.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
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Displaying 498 contributions
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Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Decision Time
Meeting date: 26 June 2025
Foysol Choudhury
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My app did not refresh. Will you check whether my vote went through? If it did not, I would have voted yes.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 25 June 2025
Foysol Choudhury
Conditions in Gaza are appalling, with 470,000 people facing catastrophic hunger and reports of desperate Gazans being shot while trying to access life-saving aid. Has the cabinet secretary discussed with colleagues what further actions can be taken, within devolved powers, to end the suffering? Will he provide an update on revised guidance for Scottish Enterprise human rights checks?
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Education (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Meeting date: 24 June 2025
Foysol Choudhury
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My voting app is displaying an error message. Can I check that my vote was registered? I would have voted yes.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Education (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Meeting date: 24 June 2025
Foysol Choudhury
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I was unable to connect. I would have voted yes.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
First Minister’s Question Time
Meeting date: 19 June 2025
Foysol Choudhury
Last week, Professor Sir Geoff Palmer, Scotland’s first black professor, passionate advocate for equality, and my friend, passed away. Sir Geoff was not only a leader in science and human rights; he was a kind, wise man who inspired me and many others. He will be deeply missed. Will the First Minister join me in paying tribute to Sir Geoff, a giant of modern Scotland, and will he continue Sir Geoff’s legacy by helping to build a Scotland that is free from prejudice? [Applause.]
Meeting of the Parliament
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 18 June 2025
Foysol Choudhury
I have been contacted by constituents who share Mr Hoy’s concern about the issue. Councillors say that the policy regarding learning for sick children who attend independent schools is based on Scottish Government guidance, which places the duty for such tuition on independent schools. It is clear that there has been miscommunication. What effort is the Scottish Government making to inform parents, schools and health boards of that policy?
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Gaza
Meeting date: 17 June 2025
Foysol Choudhury
I thank Bill Kidd for bringing this important issue to the chamber.
Presiding Officer,
“Every day, we lose more ways to survive ... We’re not asking for proper housing or clothes or even meat. All we want is a loaf of bread to stop the children’s crying. Is that too much to ask?”
Those are the words of a mother in Gaza, reflecting on the birth of her son during a period of profound violence and instability. In his short life, he has known only conflict. Like countless others in Gaza, he is now enduring the devastating consequences of war, malnutrition, uncertainty and a daily struggle for survival.
Conditions in Gaza have been intolerable for months. Following the Israeli forces’ official blockade of the Gaza Strip and months more of drip-feeding aid to a population in desperate need, according to the World Food Programme, 470,000 people in Gaza—22 per cent of the population—face catastrophic hunger and 100 per cent of the territory is at risk of famine.
That is taking place while the threat of bombs looms over. We are now seeing the deeply concerning use of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been criticised by its former leader, who resigned rather than support its strategy, the United Nations agency and the humanitarian aid community for “weaponising aid” and going against the core principles of humanitarian support, including placing conditions on aid. The consequences of that have been deadly, with desperate Gazans shot and killed while attempting to access life-saving aid.
The UN says that 9,000 trucks-worth of aid are waiting to enter Gaza. Every one of those must be let in to avoid further humanitarian disaster. That is not just the right thing to do; it is Israel’s responsibility under international law and as part of the resolution that the International Court of Justice has issued. A ceasefire agreement is now, more than ever, a moral duty as a start to ending this horrific human suffering. The UK Government, as well as Governments worldwide, can increase the pressure to make that happen.
We have seen military strikes by Israel in Syria, in Lebanon and now in Iran. Debates like today’s are important in allowing us to put on the record and say, “Not in my name.” We can stand today and say that the UK and Scotland should be partners for peace in conflict, but we cannot be partners for peace while selling weapons where there is risk of war crimes. We cannot be partners for peace if we allow states to break international law without consequences. We cannot be partners for peace if we do not recognise the existence of a Palestinian state.
18:59Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Scottish Languages Bill: Stage 3
Meeting date: 17 June 2025
Foysol Choudhury
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I am having some issues with my app. I am not sure whether my vote registered.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Scottish Languages Bill: Stage 3
Meeting date: 17 June 2025
Foysol Choudhury
Thank you.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
First Minister’s Question Time
Meeting date: 12 June 2025
Foysol Choudhury
It has been more than a year since my constituent was referred to a dermatologist. He does not know when he will be seen, and his skin condition and mental health are getting worse. In NHS Lothian, the number of people who are waiting for more than 52 weeks to see a dermatologist has doubled in the past year. Will the First Minister admit that his Government has lost control of waiting times for specialist care, and will he apologise to my constituent?
